The present invention relates generally to a golf putter, and, more specifically, to a putter having the ability to retrieve a golf ball from the bottom of the cup in the green.
Of the golf clubs available to a golfer, the putter has been a club to which a great deal of attention has been directed. Putting typically accounts for almost half of the strokes made by a golfer in completing a round of golf. Accordingly, considerable attention has been directed to improvements in reducing the number of putts a golfer must make to place the golf ball into the hole formed into the green. Putters have evolved in shape and style over the years. One of the most recent improvements that are commercially available is the “two ball” putter in which the top surface of the putter is elongated in the direction of normal movement during utilization to accommodate a pair of aligned images of golf balls in order to visually facilitate the proper alignment of the actual golf ball to be directed to the hole.
Putters have also been used as instructional aids. One known version available over the Internet is a putter with an elongated body, extending in the direction of the normal stroke of the putter during utilization that will accommodate a vertical opening that extends through the entire body of the putter. This opening is slightly larger than the nominal diameter of the golf ball so that the ball is free to roll along the ground within the opening as the putter is moved along the surface of the green. By this process, the putting stroke is practiced. This vertical opening through the putter body is intentionally larger than the diameter of the golf ball so that the ball freely rolls while restrained within the opening in the putter body. Accordingly, the vertical opening is not capable of engaging the circumference of the golf ball to enable the golf ball to adhere to the putter body.
The hole placed into the green on a golf course is selectively placed by the greens keeper in one of a number of predetermined locations on the green by retracting a plug of sod and dirt and inserting a rigid cup member into the formed hole. Typically, the cup member is formed from plastic, though other rigid materials, such as aluminum can also be utilized. The bottom of the cup member is typically fluted and sloped to position the ball dropped into the cup member into the center of the bottom of the cup member. Accordingly, the bottom of the generally cylindrical cup member is sloped from the outer perimeter toward the center at approximately fifteen degrees from the horizontal orientation. Often the center portion of the bottom of the cup member is sized to receive a golf ball.
Golf is a game that does not necessarily require great physical exertion in order to play. Accordingly, the game of golf is played by elderly people and by people having back, or even extremity (e.g. leg or knee), problems that limit the golfer's ability to bend over to retrieve the golf ball from the surface of the ground, let along from the bottom of the cup member. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a device that would be capable of use by a golfer to position and/or retrieve a golf ball without requiring the golfer to bend over to reach for the ball.
One of the conventional practices associated with putting during a game of golf is the marking of your ball when your ball is in the path of travel of your opponent's ball that is further from the hole than your ball. By using a flat ball marker and removing your ball from the surface of the green, the ball is neither a distraction nor a impediment to the movement of your opponent's ball. The placement of a marker onto the surface of the green to mark the position of your golf ball typically involves bending over to properly place the mark adjacent the golf ball before the ball is removed from the surface of the green. As noted previously, the game of golf is often played by elderly people and those whose physical condition will not easily permit the requisite bending of the back in order to properly place a ball marker.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus that will facilitate the placement of a ball marker by a golfer without requiring the golfer to bend his back to do so.